


Aeroplane over the Sea

by seaunicorn



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Femslash February, Meet-Cute, spontaneous flight to follow a cute girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6135600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seaunicorn/pseuds/seaunicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosima goes to London to visit her sister Sarah, but when she runs into a beautiful French woman at the airport, her plans spontaneously change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aeroplane over the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic like a year ago and just found it in my drafts so I was able to finish it barely in time for the monthly prompt for Femslash Big Bang/Femslash February. I haven't written Cophine in a while so I might be a little rusty. Enjoy!

The moment Cosima stepped off the plane, she stretched her limbs languidly.  A probably obscene sounding moan fell from her lips, but she didn’t care.  A thirteen hour flight from San Francisco to London was hell on, well, everything.  She stretched once more and cracked her neck before continuing on her way.

Thanks to Cosima’s penchant for packing lightly, all she had were her carry-on bags, so she was able to surpass the struggles of baggage claim.  She faced a sea of people with a million different faces, so Cosima set down her suitcase on the floor and stood on a ledge to scan the crowd for her sister, Sarah, who was supposed to be picking her up.  Cosima had no new messages on her phone after she turned it back on, so it was possible Sarah wasn’t there yet.  Cosima was early for once in her life.

Cosima jumped off the ledge to return to her suitcase, just in time to see someone’s foot catch on the strap and trip over it.  She heard a small yelp as the woman lost her balance and fell forward—right into Cosima’s arms.  Cosima’s knees buckled in shock but she was able to stay on her feet and keep the woman from falling on her face.

“Whoa there!” Cosima exclaimed as she helped the woman regain her balance.  “You alright?” she asked.

The woman looked up and the moment their eyes met, Cosima’s only thought was, _I think I’m in love._   Her large brown eyes were widened in shock and fear, like a deer in headlights, only much cuter.  Her long, slender fingers swept gorgeous, golden curls out of her face.  Her mouth fell open and closed repeatedly, trying unsuccessfully to form words.  “Oui, I am fine,” she said eventually.

 _French too?_ Cosima thought.  _Yep, I’m definitely in love.  This is what love feels like._

“I suppose I am lucky you were here to catch me,” the woman continued.

Cosima grinned at her stupidly for a moment until she realized that she should probably say something in return.  She cleared her throat and said, “Yeah, no prob.”  Then she remembered what caused the woman to trip and added, “Well, it’s actually kinda my fault you fell in the first place, so it’s the least I could do.”  The woman looked at her questioningly, so Cosima pointed at her suitcase on the ground.  “You, uhh, tripped on my bag.  Sorry about that, bee-tee-dub.”

The woman smiled and shook her head.  “Oh, no, I should have been paying attention to where I was walking instead of wrapped up in my own thoughts.”

Cosima laughed.  “Hey, I’ve been there!  That’s me, always stuck inside my own head.”  The woman laughed too and Cosima’s heart fluttered.  “Anyway, I’m Cosima.”  She held out her hand in greeting.

The woman took her hand and shook, a small smile still gracing her beautiful lips.  “Delphine,” she replied.  “Enchentée.”

Cosima’s smile grew wider at the charming French word and something drew her to repeat it back.  “Enchentée,” she said, completely butchering the word with her American accent.  Cosima internally cringed, but Delphine smiled, and she thought that maybe it was a good idea after all.  Their hands stayed clasped together for longer than what would probably be considered appropriate.  “So, Delphine,” Cosima said, reluctantly withdrawing her hand.  “What brings you to London?”

“A conference for work,” Delphine said.  “I was here to speak about a new vaccine my company is working on.”

Cosima’s eyes lit up in excitement.  “Oh, cool, you’re a scientist?”

“Yes,” Delphine nodded.  “Immunology.”

“That’s awesome!” Cosima said.  “I’m actually working up my PhD in evo devo.”  Delphine’s blank stare prompted her to answer the unasked question.  “Evolutionary developmental biology.”

“Oh!” Delphine exclaimed in recognition.  “Of course, that is wonderful.”

“Yeah,” Cosima agreed.  “I’m almost done, I just gotta finish, like, writing my dissertation.”

Delphine giggled.  “What is it about?”

“Epigenetic influence in clone cells.”

“Fascinating,” Delphine replied.  “I would love to hear more about that sometime.”

“Yeah, totes,” Cosima said, blushing.

“So Cosima, what brings you to London?” Delphine asked.  “Research?”

“Oh, no,” Cosima shrugged.  “Just here visiting my sister.  No big deal.  So did your flight just get in?  Are you looking for a ride?”

“Actually,” Delphine said a little timidly, “the conference just ended.  I am waiting for my flight back to Paris.”

And just like that, Cosima’s slight hopes and dreams for this vacation that she came up with through the duration of this conversation were all crushed.

“You’re going to Paris?”

“Oui.”

Cosima didn’t know what came over her in that moment.  It could have been the kid that kicked the back of her seat for 90% of the flight.  Maybe someone slipped some drugs or something into her food.  Or possibly not catching a wink of sleep on a thirteen hour flight was finally catching up with her.  Cosima would probably argue that she’d just gone too long without a smoke.  Whatever the reason, whatever power overcame her or what demon took possession of her, something made Cosima think it would be a good idea to say two very stupid words:

“Me too!”

Delphine raised an eyebrow, confused.  “I thought you were here to visit your sister?” she asked.

Still trying to process what she had just said, Cosima nodded.  “Yeah, I was.  Been there, done that.”  She paused to think for just a moment.  “But when I was planning my trip I figured, I’m already in Europe, I might as well visit Paris too.”  Cosima kept nodding her head, trying to make her words convincing.

“So you are going to _Paris_?” Delphine asked, just to clarify.

“Yeah,” Cosima said.  “Totally.”

Delphine stared at her for a moment, and Cosima couldn’t read her expression, but soon the corners of her lips turned up into a smile.  “I suppose I will see you on the plane then,” Delphine said.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get to Gate B to check in.  It was good to meet you, Cosima.”

“Yeah, ditto,” Cosima said.  “Obvs.”

Delphine giggled and waved one last time before sauntering off in the direction of Gate B.  Cosima sighed dreamily as she watched Delphine walk away.  Suddenly, a voice came over the loudspeakers to make an announcement to the whole airport, and Cosima snapped out of her daze.  She immediately grabbed her bag and rushed off to buy a ticket on the next flight to Paris.

“Did you have a specific flight in mind?” the man at the counter asked.

“Uhh,” Cosima thought for a moment.  “The one departing from Gate B?  Like, soon?”

The man typed away at his computer until he found a result.  “You’re sure?” he asked.  “That flight leaves in fifteen minutes.  You’ll be cutting it pretty close.”

Cosima nodded enthusiastically.  “Yeah, that’s the one!”

The man shrugged and typed away.  Then he frowned at the screen.  “I’m sorry, ma’am, that flight is full.”

The giddy, excited smile on Cosima’s face immediately disappeared.  “What?”

“Wait!” he exclaimed.  “There is one spot available…”  Cosima whooped and pumped a fist in the air.  “…but it’s first class.”

Cosima considered her options.  She could stay in London, _like she was supposed to_ , meet up with Sarah, and forget that her encounter with the beautiful French woman had ever happened.  Or she could blow the money she had saved up for souvenirs and, well, _food_ on this trip on a first class ticket to Paris to follow a woman whom she spoke with for a total of two minutes.

“I’ll take it,” Cosima said.  _Well, you know what they say,_ she thought.  _YOLO_.

The moment the ticket was paid for and printed, Cosima grabbed the paper from the man’s hand and darted off.

She found herself going through airport security for the second time in less than 24 hours.  Thankfully, she hadn’t added anything to her load so there was no cause for alarm, however, she was chosen to have the full body scan done, which took a couple extra seconds.

Cosima groaned and climbed into the machine.  The man at the computer stared at the screen a few seconds longer than he did for the last one, and when he told Cosima she was good to go, he was basically talking to her chest.

“Pervert,” Cosima muttered under her breath after she retrieved her belongings.  As soon as she was cleared from security, Cosima sprinted off to find Gate B.

When Cosima finally found it, she noticed the people at the doors were starting to close up.  She ran like hell for the doors.

“Wait, wait, wait!” she called, waving her ticket.  “I need to get on this flight!”  She panted, out of breath from running, and handed over her ticket.

“You’re just in time,” the woman told her, and held open the door.

“Oh, thank god.”

Cosima boarded the plane quickly, and the flight attendant showed her to the very nice first class area.  Her eyes doubled in size as she took in the comfortable looking, spacious seats and the open bar.  “Holy _shit_ ,” she gasped.  “This is hella fancy!”

The flight attendant laughed.  “First time in first class?”

Cosima turned red, embarrassed at her enthusiasm, and nodded.

“Well, if you’d follow me, your seat is this way…”  She followed the flight attendant down the aisle.  He pointed to her seat.  “Here you are.”

The figure in the window seat next to Cosima’s turned her head, and blonde curls bounced around.  Delphine met her eyes and smiled.  “Hello again, Cosima.”

“Hey!” Cosima said, wiggling her fingers in greeting.  “Looks like we’re flight buddies.  Fancy that!”

“Yes,” Delphine agreed.  “Fancy that.”

Cosima was still putting her belongings in the storage space above her seat when another flight attendant came out to talk about flight procedure and emergency exits.  She quickly closed the latch and plopped down in her seat, buckling up.

“It appears you’ve arrived just in time,” Delphine leaned in and whispered.

“Yeah, I had to use the bathroom.  The line was long as hell,” Cosima lied easily.  “I’m kind of always late, though.”  Just then, they made the announcement to turn off cellphones.  “Oh, shit,” Cosima gasped.  She pulled out her phone, but before she could turn it off, she noticed a new text message from Sarah.

_where r u?_

Shit.  Sarah.  Cosima unlocked her phone and started typing out a message, but she felt a tap on her shoulder.  “Excuse me miss, could you please turn that off?” a flight attendant asked.

Cosima blinked.  “Can I just finish…?” she mimed typing out a message.  The woman just stared at her.  “No?  Okay then.”  She held down the button on top and shut off her phone.  “There ya go,” she said, offering the woman a sarcastic smile.

As soon as the woman’s back was turned, Cosima made a face at her.  A giggle came from the seat next to her.  Cosima turned her head and found Delphine watching her with an amused smile on her lips.

“What?” Cosima asked.  “She was rude!”

Delphine chuckled again.  “Oui, she was.  But all the staff on this airline is rude.  You get used to it.”

“You use this airline a lot?” Cosima asked, curious.

Delphine nodded.  “It’s the company airline.  All business trips and conference travel arrangements are made with them.  So, like I said, you get used to it.”

“Good to know,” Cosima smiled.  “Although I can’t say I’ll ever be using this airline again.”

“Really?” Delphine asked.  “Did her attitude bother you that much?”

“Well, yes,” Cosima said plainly, getting another smile from Delphine.  “But also, I don’t really travel much, so once this vacation is over I probably won’t be on another plane for a while.”

“I see,” Delphine replied.  “Well, it’s not as fun as it seems.”

Cosima cocked her head in confusion.  Just then, the pilot made an announcement that they would be taking off momentarily, and Cosima noticed Delphine tense up in her seat.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.  “Delphine, are you afraid of flying?”

Delphine blushed and looked down at her lap.  “Maybe a little,” she admitted quietly.  “Mostly just takeoff and landing.”

“That’s adorable,” Cosima said, grinning, as the plane began to move forward.  “If you get scared, feel free to hold my hand.  No questions asked.”

“Don’t make fun of me!” Delphine glared and gently shoved Cosima’s shoulder, seeming to not notice that the vehicle was gaining speed very quickly.  “Flying is a legitimate fear that many people have!”

Cosima put up her hands in mock innocence.  The plane’s wheels left the ground.  “I know, I know!  It was a serious offer!  I don’t get scared so I can provide comfort to those in need.”

“Well maybe I don’t need comforting,” Delphine said defensively.

“I agree,” Cosima said.  “I think you just needed a distraction.”

“What are you talking about?”

Cosima pointed out the window where buildings grew smaller beneath them as the plane rose higher in the sky.  “See that?  We’re in the air and you barely even flinched.”  Delphine gazed out the window and sighed softly.  She turned her head to Cosima again and looked at her with curious eyes and a small smile on her lips.  “Albeit, you did talk about being scared of flying the whole time, but it’s cool, we can work on that.”

And then Delphine laughed.  It was a genuine, amused laugh and the sound was music to Cosima’s ears.  “You are something, you know that?”

Cosima blushed, suddenly nervous under Delphine’s gaze.  “Yeah, well…” she shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand.  “But hey!  You know what else helps with the nerves?”

Delphine shook her head.  “What?”

“Alcohol.”  Delphine rolled her eyes as Cosima flagged down a passing flight attendant.  “Excuse me, could we get two glasses of red wine?”  The woman nodded and assured Cosima she would return with their drinks very soon.

“How did you figure I like wine?” Delphine asked.

Cosima looked at her and blinked.  “French,” she said.  “Duh.”

Delphine laughed again.  Cosima looked over her shoulder and out the window at the image of London shrinking beneath them and smiled wistfully.  She loved flying.  She loved watching the landscapes shrink and grow beneath them.  She loved flying on top of the clouds seeing nothing but blue sky all around.

Just then, their wine arrived.  Cosima thanked them as she and Delphine took their glasses.

Delphine took a small sip at first, but then downed half her glass in the second gulp.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “You’re right,” she said.  “Wine does help relax me.”

“Told you.” Cosima grinned as she took a sip from her own glass.

“There was one time,” Delphine started.  She giggled softly to herself and shook her head.  “One time, I was so nervous about an eight hour flight that I thought it would be a good idea to arrive drunk.”

Cosima gasped.  “No way!”

“Yes way!” Delphine exclaimed, mimicking Cosima’s colloquialism.  “It was horrible,” she said.  “They almost didn’t let me on the plane, and once I got there I was no longer happy drunk.  I was miserable and terrified and alone.”

“And what about now?” Cosima asked.

“Well, less than two hours is a big difference from eight hours,” Delphine said.  “But, I suppose I am not miserable or alone this time.  It doesn’t make me any less terrified though!”

“Well,” Cosima replied.  “The offer to hold my hand is still open for the duration of the flight.”  She grinned, and Delphine rolled her eyes.

“You are very cheeky,” Delphine huffed.

“Yeah, but you like it,” Cosima countered.

Delphine said nothing and took another sip of her wine.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while.  Delphine finished her wine quickly and ordered more, but Cosima stuck to her one glass, taking small sips, watching Delphine very closely.  A few times, Delphine looked in her direction and caught Cosima staring.  She simply rolled her eyes playfully and smiled.

“So, Cosima,” Delphine said, turning in her seat to face Cosima.  “Tell me more about your thesis.”

“Are you sure you wanna hear about that?” Cosima asked.

“Yes!  I told you I would love to hear about it sometime, and we have an hour and a half to kill on this flight.  So please, entertain me.”

So Cosima talked about her studies.  She spoke enthusiastically, waving her hands around, almost smacking the flight attendants whenever they walked by.  At first she wasn’t sure how in depth to describe it, but when she noticed the way Delphine’s eyes lit up rather than glazed over like what normally happens when people ask about her thesis, she took it as encouragement to continue.

Delphine nodded along to Cosima’s explanations, intervening here or there to ask a question or add a comment.  It was easy to talk to Delphine, and it was refreshing that she actually understood what Cosima was talking about.  Halfway through her second glass of wine, one of her hands waved around erratically and into the aisle, and knocked over a tray of drinks that a flight attendant was carrying.

Cosima immediately stopped talking to gasp very loudly and dramatically, and both of her hands flew to clasp over her mouth.  In the next seat over, Delphine’s eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

“Oh, my god,” Cosima said.  “I am _so_ sorry!”

The flight attendant said nothing.  She simply bent over and cleaned up the (thankfully small mess).  Before she walked away, she shot Cosima a quick glare.

The moment she was out of earshot, Delphine burst into a fit of giggles.

“Are you laughing at me?” Cosima gasped.  “It’s not funny!  Oh, god, I’m so embarrassed.”  She buried her face in her hands and shook her head.

“No, no, I’m sorry!” Delphine said, pulling Cosima’s hands away from her face so Cosima would look at her.  “But it was really funny,” she added, trying not to smile.  And then Cosima started giggling too.

“Wow,” Cosima said between laughs.  “I’m a mess.”  She took another drink from her glass of wine.

“Perhaps you have had enough to drink?” Delphine said, gesturing her almost empty glass.

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Cosima reassured.  “I’ve got pretty high tolerance.  I’m just a klutz.  Stuff like that happens all the time.”

Just then, a voice came over the intercom.  “Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts as we are beginning our descent.”

“Merde,” Delphine muttered, and she immediately tensed up.

Cosima wasn’t sure if she was overstepping her boundaries, but she hesitantly reached out and took Delphine’s hand.  She gave it a light squeeze.  Delphine looked up at her and smiled.  “Don’t think about it,” Cosima said.  “Just look at me, and don’t think about it.”  Then she started to talk about her dissertation again, and Delphine kept looking into her eyes, smiling and nodding along.

Before they knew it, the plane jerked as the wheels touched down on the ground.

“We’re here,” Delphine mused.

“See?” Cosima said, “That wasn’t so bad.

“No, I suppose not,” Delphine said.  “Maybe I just need the right company.”  She winked, and Cosima felt her cheeks flush.

They retrieved their bags out of the overhead and slowly made their way out of the plane with everyone else.  “So Cosima, where are you from?” Delphine asked.

“San Francisco,” Cosima said.

“I thought I heard a California accent,” Delphine mused.  “Is this your first time to Paris?”

“Oui,” Cosima replied in her terrible accent.

“Do you know what you’re going to see?”

“I, uhh, hadn’t thought about it yet.”  Which was true, as she only knew she was going to Paris about two hours ago.  She didn’t have time to think about plans or a place to stay or—Sarah was gonna kill her.

When they entered the airport, Cosima turned on her phone.  Eleven missed calls and forty-three text messages.  “Would you excuse me for a sec?”

Delphine nodded, and busied herself with finding out where she could get her checked bags.

Cosima called Sarah and held her breath.  Sarah answered on the first ring.

“Cos?” Sarah asked.  “Where the fuck are you?  I was about to go to the bloody cops to report a missing person!”

“Don’t freak out,” Cosima said.  “I’m kind of in Paris right now.”

“Paris?” Sarah asked.  “How the bloody fuck did you get to Paris?”

“See, that’s a funny story that may have had something to do with an extremely beautiful French girl and I would _love_ to talk about it right now, but I also need to get back to London.”

“Bloody hell, Cos,” Sarah said.  “What do you expect me to do?  Drive out there to pick you up?”

“Okay, I realize I didn’t think this through,” Cosima said, “but hey one day we’re gonna laugh about this.”

“I don’t know why I put up with you,” Sarah grumbled.

“Does that mean you’ll come?”

“It’s like eight at night, I’ll leave in the morning.”

“The morn—Sarah what am I supposed to do?  I have nowhere to stay!”

“Shoulda thought of that, mate.”

And without another word, Sarah hung up.

“Bitch!” Cosima said at her phone.

“Is there a problem?” Delphine asked.  Cosima spun around.  Delphine was awfully close.  She wondered how much of that conversation was overheard.

“Oh, nothing,” Cosima said.  “That was just, uhh…. my hotel!  Yeah, my hotel.  I was calling to confirm and they, umm, they cancelled my reservation.”

Delphine quirked an eyebrow.  “That is rather odd,” she said.

Cosima nodded enthusiastically.  “Super odd.”

Delphine let out a sharp laugh.  “You know, Cosima, you are a terrible liar.”

Cosima’s face fell.  “W-what do you mean?”

“I’m sorry, I overheard a bit of your conversation,” Delphine confessed.

“Oh.”

“And you’re not supposed to be here?”

“Technically?  No.”

“You are a very interesting girl, Cosima.”

“Good interesting?” Cosima had to ask.

Delphine smiled.  “Yes, good interesting.”

“Sorry for lying,” Cosima said.

“I don’t appreciate that,” Delphine replied.  “I do, however, appreciate being called ‘extremely beautiful’.”

“You heard that much, did you?” Cosima asked.

“Oui,” Delphine said.  “So, I could buy you the next flight back to London,” she started.  Cosima held her breath.  “Or, since you’re already here, I could show you a few sights while we wait for your sister to arrive tomorrow?”

Cosima grinned.  “I like that plan.”

When Delphine smiled back at her, Cosima thought, _yep, this’ll be one hell of a story to tell_.


End file.
